At two places in this book al-Radhi has referred to Nah...

At two places in this book al-Radhi has referred to Nah; al-Balagha as a work of his own compilation. It is important to note that even Ibn Khallikan, al-Dhahabi and Ibn Hajar did not question the authenticity of the attribution of Nahj al-balaghah in its entirety to ‘Ali (as). They were mainly sceptical of those parts which were critical of the Caliphs Abu Bakr and ‘Umar.

But if we find such utterances and writings of Amir al-Mu’minin (as) in both Shi’i and non-Shi’i sources earlier than Nahjal-balaghah,baseless-ness of al-Dhahabi’s and Ibn Hajar’s objections can be conclusively proved. Let us again refer to Istinad-e Nahj al-Balagha by ‘Arshi, a contemporary Sunni scholar of India.

With respect to the harshest of the sermons concerning the issue of the caliphate, known as al-Khutbat al-Shiqshiqiyyah , ‘Arshi refers to the following early sources in which the sermon had occurred: 1. Abu Ja’far Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Khalid al-Barqi (d.274/887) has quoted it in full in al-Mahasin wa al-‘Adab. 2. Ibrahim ibn Muhammad al-Thaqafi al-Kufi (d. 283/896) quoted it in al-Gharat.

In his notes on al-Gharat, Sayyid Jalal al-Din Muhaddith, quoting Imtiyaz ‘Ali Khan ‘Arshi, says that this khutbah is not found in it; even Ibn Abi al-Hadid and al-‘Allamah Muhammad Baqir al-Majlisi (1037-1110 or 1111/1627-1698 or 99) did not refer to al-Gharat as an early source of this sermon. 3. Abu ‘Ali Muhammad ibn ‘Abd al-Wahhab al Jubba’i al-Basri al-Mu’tazili (d. 303/915 -16) narrated it. 4.

Abu Ja’far Muhammad ibn ‘Abd al-Rahman ibn Qubbah al-Razi (a teacher of al- Mufid and a pupil of Abu al-Qasim al-Balkhi, a Mu’tazili in his youth) quoted it in al-Insaf. 5. Abu al Qasim ‘Abd Allah ibn Ahmad ibn Mahmud al-Ka’bi al-Balkhi al-Mu’tazili (d. 319/931) in al-‘Insaf. 6. Abu Ja’far Muhammad ibn ‘Ali ibn al-Husayn ibn Musa ibn Babawayh al-Qummi, known as alShaykh al-Saduq (d. 318/930), has quoted it in two of his books: Ilal al Sharayi’ and Ma’ani al-Akhbar. 7.

Abu ‘Abd Allah Muhammad ibn al-Nu’man, known as al-Shaykh al-Mufid(d. 413/ 1022) in Kitab al-Irshad. 8. Shaykh al-Ta’ifah Abu Ja’far Muhammad ibn al-Hasan al-Tusi (d. 460/1068) in al-‘Amali.